From the crawling ant
by Lavenderpaw
Summary: Simba makes his own mark even after his exile from the Pridelands. One/shot.


**A/N: **I have heard this song non-stop for a week now, every day. Bear with me. ;)

_~Take the night and darken everything around me  
Call the clouds and listen closely, I'm lost without you_

_Call your name everyday, when I feel so helpless  
I'm fallen down but I'll rise above this, rise above this~_

- Seether.

* * *

The stone cold ground was swathed in shadows as the young cub ran across the desert, a light swatch of periwinkle blue was out in the eastern horizon and beginning to penetrate the deep color of darker blue that was cast all the way over in a starless cover on into the western parts of the sky. Simba wasn't sure how far he was going, he wasn't even sure if he was ever going to stop, but as a slip of pink began to overshadow the light blue he felt his tired little legs begin to slow. There were fragments of rocks of varying size that were arranged around where he stood. Wrinkling his muzzle, the cub charged forward towards the fortress that formed before him and stumbled and climbed his way up the stone stairs.

"Gonna be…" He said to himself breathlessly as he neared the top, "I'm gonna be…"

Dawn peaked clearly in a radiating streak of blushing hot pink.

"Hmm…" Simba frowned atop his rock perch, "King of the rock? Nah."

Folding his ears down, the young exiled prince stepped down step after step of stone and proceeded to go the normal way around them. He continued right down into a shifty, dirt-filled decline that funneled around and made a patch of gravel down at the bottom, then onto into some hills that were beginning to brim with light. Simba sighed deeply, feeling his red-tan eyes watering as he moved out into the main expanse of lumping ground. He sniffled down a lump of tears, and collapsed onto the cool, hard mud that met his paws.

Simba peered over at a small mouse that had come out for a small stroll during dawn's late minutes. He tried nudging it with his paw tip, and it flinched away from his touch. The lion grew a little more daring, raised his bottom up in the air and pounced forward. But the little mouse scurried away just in time. Flustered, Simba tried repeatedly to get him but he was always one pounce behind the mouse's scurry. The lion sighed, aligned his stomach to the ground, whispering, "Stay low to the ground…" he narrowed his eyes:

"… Try not to make a sound…"

Simba pounced in an outstretched jump and caged the squealing little vermin inside his paws. Grinning, the cub parted them both just enough down the middle to peer in at what was now his first ever catch. What he saw was a frightened animal now trying to escape his grasp. Simba's grin vanished and he lied back down, deciding to keep the mouse just at tip-to-tail length. Instead of struggling, the mouse began to explore Simba's paw. The lion smiled happily at his new friend as it sniffed his golden brown fur and raked into it with its little pink hands. He was ready to let the mouse go so that he could sleep when-

_Gurgle_.

His stomach knotted and the cub clinched his small incisors together. Simba breathed in and out before considering eating the mouse, then relented and lifted his paw. The vermin did not leave, but stood there several inches from his arm. When Simba tried touching it, however, it flinched away again. An ant crawling by them both caught his eye before he reached out and caught it between his paw stubs, offering it up as a sort of peace offering. The mouse sniffed at the ant before taking it in its hands – and then setting it back down.

Simba closed his eyes against a wave of tears as the rodent left.

"From the crawling ant…" He said quietly, "To the…"

Sunrise struck out across the golden hills that rose around the cub. Simba stood up and all of a sudden his breath caught in his throat. He stood up and walked in a bewitched nature in between the grained humps like those of a camel's, taking in the sheer enthrallment he was experiencing of the shining desert. Shadows rose like protective phantoms all around him, blocking out the darkness that he had seen in the twisted and tangled Elegant Grave yard. Simba followed the one that cast from his body; walking into its lengthening shape and seeing it stop only for a second when he was cast as an enormous lion against a dune.

The cub smiled bitter sweetly.

Sounds of birds from far in the distance caught his ear. He raised it and listened, feeling his stomach still craving food. Simba gave a moan and continued to wander forward into the still dawning daytime. The clusters of golden earth grew shiftier and rose all the way up to his calves and forearms, weighing him down as he waded through the thick masses.

To keep going, Simba started humming to himself even as heat waves rolled up his back.

"I just can't wait…

Oh, I just can't wait…"

He felt the jolt rise up inside of him again and suddenly noticed the shadows were now buzzing around like bees in the air, floating in and out of the sand dunes. Simba leaned down to inspect them at his paw tips, watching them fall over in one great wave all the way over to his right side. He developed a twinkle in his eye and bent down further just as the next set passed over him. The lion flicked his tail from side-to-side and then leapt out like he had before onto the passing shadow. Missing, Simba grit his teeth and did it again. He laughed as he did this for several minutes, leaping around and landing on his 'helpless' prey. Soon the cub found himself on a very big sand dune, taking in the view.

"I'm king…" he smirked, "King of the sand land!"

Realizing that he was now truly on his own, Simba lowered his head, humming a now improvised 'King of the sand land song' to himself yet when he looked up at the great red orb bursting into an even greater sphere of pure yellow gold, he felt himself rising.

"… To the leaping antelope…" Simba continued as he pressed onwards before adding:

"Ending with the rising lion."

The End.


End file.
